>> arthel: hello, everyone: i'm arthel neville. welcome it a brand-new hour inside america's news headquarters. >> rick: topping the news, going after guns, new details on a proposed list of recommendations by vice president joe biden aimed at overhauling gun laws. >> arthel: how the military is now preparing to enter a dramatic new phase. >> rick: plus, no breakfast table would be complete without it. coming up, "consumer reports" giving us a complete guide to the best types of jams out there and why you should never confuse jams with jelly. can't wait to hear that. we begin with a fox news alert. growing health concerns this

hour as a severe and potentially deadly strain of flu rages like wildfire across the country. now the cdc is saying that it's hitting epidemic levels and reporting widespread cases of the flu in nearly every state. as the misery grows, so does the death toll. the cdc releasing these latest numbers. so far, 20 children have died and there are now 27 people dead in minnesota. 22 in pennsylvania. 18 in massachusetts. eight in oklahoma. and six in illinois. but nationwide, this grim total might be higher since not all the deaths initially reported are linked to the flu. anna kooiman is live with the very latest. >> hey there. new york state governor cuomo this morning declaring a statewide public health emergency. this is the first state to do so this year from the sharp spike in flu cases. the public health officials are encouraging everyone who has it to get the flu vaccine. officials say supplies are

running low in some places, but vaccine is still available. nearly 130 million doses of flu vaccine have been distributed and so far, at least 112 million have been used. since the swine flu epidemic in 2009, vaccination rates increased here in the united states, but more than half of americans have yet to get the vaccine this year. physicians say it's not too late to get your shot. >> the best way to prevent the flu right now is to get the flu shot. and a lot of people have some hesitation of getting the flu shot. the flu shots are the best way to prevent the flu from recurring. >> the epidemic is two fold, driven by a stronger than normal strain and a the dreaded flu season started one month early this year in december. the centers for disease control and prevention says the flu kills 24,000 people in an average year, mostly the very old or very young. boston has been hit particularly hard.

the death toll from flu there, new hitting six. officials in massachusetts say the flu's early arrival and its fierce symptoms this season have been causing patients to flood emergency rooms and a rush on the vaccine. the advice from physicians is wash your hands as oftens possible, avoid touching your face and keep your germs to yourself f. you're sick, don't go to work and don't left the kids go to school. back to you. >> rick: anna kooiman, thank you so much. >> arthel: if that's not enough, there are new concerns we will simply run out of the flu vaccine. the largest producer of the vaccine in the united states says it sold out in four of the six different dosages it makes, mostly due to high demand. and companies also reporting a shortage of the liquid form of tamiflu, used to slow or stop the symptoms of the flu. that drug can only be taken in the very first few days of flu-like symptoms. manufacturers warned of an imminent delay in shipments. >> rick: switching gears, vice president joe biden preparing to make his recommendations to the

president on ways to curb gun violence in this country. the vp met with the national rifle association, the entertainment industry, speculation grows over just what his task force will propose on tuesday. peter doocy with more from washington. >> the vice president gave us a very specific example on friday of an idea being kicked around by the task force he's leading trying to reduce gun violence. it sounds similar to something from the james bond movie, "skyfall." >> there is a lot could change if, for example, every gun purchased could only be fired by the person who purchased it, because literally would be unable to be fired. that technology exist, but it's extremely expensive. >> ideas like that don't fit well with the national rifle association who more thanked from the meeting with the vice president this week under the impression that the administration is seeking to attack the second amendment. >> gun control has been a failed experiment. joe biden pushed a gun ban through in 1994 and bill

clinton's justice department said had it had no impact on crime. so let's look at mental health. let's look at a violent culture. let's look at things that can really address the underlying problem. >> retailers across the country have seen a surge in sales lately as many americans are stocking up on weapons they fear won't be easy to come by once the federal government takes steps oreides gun violence. >> gun sales have gone through the roof. anything and everything. rifles, hand guns. i think people that were on the fence about buying, had planned to buy one, were pushed harder now because they're afraid that they're not going to be able to buy certain weapons. >> biden said he thinks a great deal can be done without impinging on the rights guaranteed by the second amendment. rick? >> rick: thank you, peter. for more on the gun control debate, tune in tomorrow to fox news sunday. chris wallace sits down for an exclusive interview with two people at the center of this,

the center for american progress and larry pratt with the gun owners of america. >> arthel: president obama moving forward with the transition in afghanistan after meeting with afghan president hamid karzai at the white house. the pair discussing ways to wind down the u.s. military presence there as the american mission officially ends in 2014. in his weekly address, the president announcing there will be less u.s. troops there starting this spring, as it's time for the u.s. to focus more on building its own nation. >> this year will mark another milestone. afghan forces will take the lead for security across the entire country. by the end of next year, 2014, the transition will be complete. afghan also have full responsibility for their security and this war will come to a responsible end. >> arthel: let's go to molly henneberg live in washington with more on this story. hi, molly. >> hi. in order to bring the war to

that responsible end, though, according to some republicans, the u.s. has to make sure that al-qaeda won't be able to move back into afghanistan. >> i think all americans want our troops home, but the important thing is keep our troops who are still there safe. when you reduce our troops to a level of 10,000 or less, you got to make sure your mission is complete, it's coordinated with the afghan authorities, and we don't leave a vacuum that can be filled by terrorists. >> president obama met with afghan president karzai yesterday at the white house. mr. obama says he awaits recommendations from the pentagon and commanders on the ground as to what kind of military footprint the u.s. will have in afghanistan in the near term and after 2014. but it will be this spring, not the summer or later in the year, as previously was discussed by the obama administration, that afghan forces will take the lead for security in all of their country. u.s. troops will step back into an advising and assisting role.

>> our forces are still in harm's way, but make no mistake, our path is clear and we are moving forward because after more than a decade of war, the nation we need to rebuild is our own. >> the white house has left open the possibility that the u.s. may not leave any troops in afghanistan. arthel? >> arthel: molly henneberg, thank you very much for that report from washington. >> rick: fox news extreme weather alert. powerful winter storm in southern california practically bring life there to a near halt. a vital highway cut off by ice and snow this week is now open again. folks there nowhere near out of the woods. maria molina, they're not used to this kind of weather. >> they've been looking at very cold temperatures for today and actually been above average over the last couple of weeks. it's kind of a shocker when you've been used to the warm temperatures and now reality check comes in and it's january and it's supposed to be cold. that's what we're dealing with out west. severe weather, we have that

possibility anywhere from northeastern portions of texas, in through portion of kentucky and we've seen some severe weather across portions of indiana. one town in particular that was in a tornado warning is evansville. we have a brand-new tornado warning that's been issued out until 30 past the hour. this does include pike county in southwest indiana and northern warrick county. seek shelter if you live here. you got to seek shelter. we could possibly is a tornado on the ground out there in those counties that mentioned. severe weather today can come not just in the form of tornadoes, but even damaging wind gusts gusts and hail from f the storms. little rock could see bad weather and memphis in tennessee. heavy rain associated with the storm system stretching from indiana to southern parts of illinois and across eastern portions of oklahoma and arkansas with as much as five inches of rain possible in some of these places. flash flooding could be a concern out here. we have a number of flood advisories and watches that are in effect for many of the states

due to the heavy amount of rifle we're expecting, the ground saturated. we've already seen a lot of rain over the past couple of days. temperatures on the northern side of the storm system, very cold. these are your current temperatures right now. 0 degrees in minot. you factor in a little wind and it feels even colder. feels like 14 below zero right now. 13 below in bismarck. rick? >> rick: maria molina, thanks. >> arthel: new york artist is honoring the victims of the connecticut school shooting with his latest piece. it's on display on staten island, an area he says is in need of a little hope after devastations of super storm sandy. the piece features thousands of lights arranged to form 20 little angels. wnyw's lydia has more. >> each illuminated angel represents a child killed in the newtown, connecticut tragedy. the artist calls this piece, from one grieving community to another. it took seven days to make 7,000

lights into a display that inspires just about everyone who looks at it. >> i got all choked up and i really wanted to cry. and the more i looked at them, the more i wanted to cry. >> the artwork can be seen on the front lawn of staten island, st. theresa school. 20 angels representing the 20 children killed during the sandy hook elementary school shooting. the artist purposely chose staten island to unveil his piece, an area that was ravaged by super storm sandy. >> i guess it's one community that is heart broken, just reaching out to another community that's heart broken. >> each angel is hand made if lights, chicken wire, aluminum foil and tape. the artist says he wanted to portray the students as they should always be remembered, little, happy, playful angels as who brought joy into the lives of everyone they met. >> each one has their own personality. it has some playing and dancing and i saw the pictures of these

children and i read the bios of these children and how does it not rip your heart out? so i don't want people to forget that. >> this piece will only be here for a limited time. the artist tells me it will be illuminated from 5:00 p.m. until midnight every night until next week. as of right now, he doesn't know where the angels will be, but he plans on adding the six teachers killed that day. >> arthel: very love leeway to honor those children and to help the folks out there on staten island. that was lydia with our fox affiliate wnyw in new york city. >> rick: when we come back, new concerns as a growing number of democrats are urging the president to deal with washington spending habits by going around congress. but does the president even have the power, the authority to do that? >> arthel: plus, he has repeatedly denied any allegations of doping. but could cyclist lance armstrong now be on the verge of a confession? details coming up next

searing for a bank designed for investors like you? tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 schwab bank was built with all e value and convenience tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 investors want. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like no atm fees, worldwide. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and no nuisance fees. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 plus deposit ches with mobile deposit. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and manage your cash and investments tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab's mobile app. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 no wonder schwab bank has grown to over 70 billion in assets. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so if you're looking for a bank that's in your corner, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 not just on the corner... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call, click or visit to start banking with schwab bank today. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 is efficiently absorbed in small continuous amounts. citracal slow release continuously releases calcium plus d with efficient absorption in one daily dose. citracal slow release.

ya. alright, anher one just like that. right in the old bucket. good toss! see that's much better! that was good. you had your shoulder pointed, you kept your eyes on your target. let's do it again -- watch me. just like that one... male announcer ] the durability of the volkswagenassat. pass down something he will be grateful for. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ back to you.

>> rick: thanks for spending part of your saturday with us. after years of denials, new reports that lance armstrong may be ready to confess to using performance enhancing drugs over

his entire career. he will reportedly make a confession during an interest view with oprah winfrey this week. the department of homeland security is warning users to temporarily disable their java software. there is a concern that hackers are exploit ago flaw in the program making users vulnerable to identity theft. the palms casino in vegas facing a $1 million fine after a sting operation. police uncovering that nightclub there and some employees were providing customers with prostitutes and drugs. palms spokesman says the company is very concerned and is now implementing new policies. >> arthel: a new battle over the separation of powers playing out over the debt ceiling. four leading democrats urging president obama to consider doing an end run around congress by raising the nation's borrowing limit without congressional approval. does the president have this authority? what could democrats think if the party dynamics were reversed? bringing in our political panel,

mercedes, former spokesperson for president george w. bush, and richard goodstein, the democratic political consultant and former advisor to hillary clinton for president in 2008. good to see both of you. >> thank you. >> arthel: mercedes, you first. should president obama invoke the 14th amendment protection and bypass congress and do you think raising the debt ceiling is good or bad for the good of the country and tell me why? >> it would be unwise for president obama to basically bypass congress. as we know in the constitution, it clearly states that congress has the power of the purse. so it is their responsibility to deal with the debt ceiling. if we give the president this raw power grab, i think it would have a huge negative effect, in fact, a constitutional crisis, and it would not be in his interest to proceed without having congress take the steps necessary to raise the debt

ceiling. >> arthel: we're going to get to the interest of the president later. , but this is the interest of the people. the bill is up come february. we need more money to pay for the bill. so richard, let me ask you if you think this is good or bad for the good of the country, and would it matter if the shoe were on the other foot? >> well, there is good news. today we've actual will he had two ideas taken off the table. we've already heard the treasury department and the federal reserve earlier this afternoon say this notion about this platinum coin, which was a little batty is now not being considered. and let's agree just among the three of us that this whole idea of using the 14th amendment, which remember action bill clinton said he would have considered doing back in to 2011, that's something that the president has said he's not going to do. so i understand why these senators have urged him to do it because they would rather not go through the fight. i get that. >> arthel: the president also said that he is not going to

have any sort of -- not let the spending issues get in the way of the debt ceiling problem. >> what the president has said, it's funny, you asked the question of mercedes, what if the shoe were on the other foot? go back and look at quotes from senator grassley who then as chairman of the finance committee when the republicans controlled the senate in 2006 and george bush was president, he totally "the pianisted" this -- poopooed this notion and said you got to keep the government up and running and yes, i understand -- . >> we do need to keep the government running, but at the same time, 61% of americans believe that we need to tackle this spending problem. there should be spending cuts attached to this. so in essence, i think what we need to do if we're looking at a very different economic situation at this point, you know, our economy is still very sluggish. i think when you're looking at the fact we had our credit rating dropped for the first time it happened under president obama, as well as just more

deficit spending and the president doesn't believe there is a spending problem. so we just can't go ahead and raise the debt ceiling if there is no other provisions. they've got to roll up their sleeves, both congress, with taking the lead from president obama and basically raise -- if they're going to raise the debt limit, it's got to go in with spending cuts. >> arthel: you're talking about the downgrading of the credit rating for the u.s., which now stands at a a plus. it used to be triple a, which is the best you can get as of august 2011, that was downgraded. okay. so let me ask you, mercedes, because i think everybody would agree we need to get the spending under control. but is there a possibility in your mind, that we could -- they could in congress, deal with the debt ceiling first and then come back and deal with the spending cuts? >> you know, i think it will be interesting to see how it plays out. if what we've seen in the past with the fiscal cliff, we saw vice president biden, along with majority leader mcconnell take the lead on this issue. so i think we could revisit the biden-mcconnell strategy where they go forth and come up with

some sort of compromise. i think we could see them raising the debt ceiling and i think it would involve some spending cuts. >> arthel: richard? >> look, as i'm sure your viewers know 'cause they've heard a lot of times, the debt ceiling was raised 18 times under ronald reagan. >> arthel: okay. exactly. >> and the debt tripled on his watch. and the people, like mercedes, weren't really kind of complaining about it then because yes, there was a spending problem, but the debt ceiling is not the place to do it. your argument is not with me or president clinton. talk to the ceo's of all these companies when the president said i'm not going to play that game, when he spoke to the business round table, that's what he meant. talk to the people on wall street who are really fearing that this kind of light suggestion of oh, we'll take our chances and see what happens. the day after -- >> arthel: richard -- >> it's not a joke. >> arthel: i need both of to you answer quickly. should the president bypass congress, raise the debt ceiling in the end, does this help or

hinder him and his legacy? quickly, richard? , you first. >> you won't. the pack that he's not going to do it single handedly. the reason is, what he said to the business round table executives, i'm not gog play that game. i'm not going to be held hostage every time we're hitting that debt ceiling through the next four years. he's not going to do it. this is the time he has to make it stick or not. i think that's his plan. >> i think it would be just a terrible mistake if he would decide to bypass congress. congress really has to work together, come up with a solution. the democrats should not just say we're not going to work with the republicans. this again, i think, will come down to congress having to make the decision. but it would help if president obama would bring them together to the negotiating table, but he has failed to do that time and time again. i don't think we're going to see that with the debt ceiling. >> arthel: mercedes, you got the last word on this one. richard, thanks to both of you for joining us here. appreciate it. that's the political side of the debate. what about the economic consequences? a little later in the show, we'll look at the impact on your

wallet if we don't raise the debt ceiling. >> rick: also complete autopsy is now scheduled for an illinois lottery win who are died from cyanide poisoning and we're now hearing more about a growing family feud. that's straight ahead. >> arthel: and the bush family's political legacy is growing. we'll tell you who is now seeking office in texas jenna shared her recipe with sharon, who emailed it to emily, who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasn't quite the same. the recipe's not the recipe... ohhh. [ female announcer ] ...without swanson. the broth cooks trust most when making soup. mmmm! [ female announcer ] the secret is swanson.

>> rick: bottom of the hour. top headline, the centers for disease control saying the flu has reached epidemic levels across the country. so far the virus has sent thousands of people to the hospital. at least 20 children have been killed nationwide. >> arthel: the next generation of the bush family is preparing to make his mark in politics. 36-year-old george press cot bush considering running for land commissioner in texas.

he is the son of former florida governor jeb bush and nephew of george w. bush. >> rick: former u.s. army staff sergeant will be awarded the medal of honor next month for stopping an insurgent attack in 2009. he will become the fourth living recipient of the highest award for combat. >> arthel: serious new developments in a new al-qaeda hot spot in west africa. french forces launching air strikes on targets in mali which is a former french colony. the operation coming after an appeal for help from mali's president. the attack driving islamist rebels out of the key city and destroying a militant command center. according to "wall street journal," paris is asking the u.s. to send drones to support the campaign. france is also raising its own terror threat level as a result of the strike. it's important to understand that the al-qaeda group in mali is one of the most dangerous offshoots of the terror group in the world. they've essentially carved out

their own territory in the lawless desert region in the northern part of that country over the past nine months. much more to come on this developing story. new developments in the mysterious death of an illinois lottery winner. a judge granting prosecutors admission to exhume his body. he was poisoned with cyanide around the time he was set to collect his winnings from a million dollars scratch offticket last summer. reporter craig wall has more from wfld in chicago. >> that's how i found out. it was just a screaming on the phone. i couldn't understand what was going on. >> his sister says she does not know who called her that night, but it came from her brother's phone. the family is leaved a judge has given approval for his body to be exhumed from rosehill cemetery so the medical examiner can conduct a complete autopsy to determine how he ingested the cyanide that killed him.

>> i'm glad we'll finally know what happened. >> he was a million dollars lottery winner in june of the he accepted a ceremonial check with his wife and daughter from a previous marriage standing by his side. but on july 20, the day his $425,000 lump sum check was mailed, he died in his home from what was later determined to be cyanide poisoning. since then, 17-year-old jasmine has moved out of the family's house and her aunt has been appointed guardian. the family says his wife prepared him his last mail, a curried meat dish which he ate around 11:00 p.m., but no one else ate the food. hours later he died. but experts say cyanide usually kills people very quickly, raising questions about the food as the source. the autopsy on his body is expected to be completed by the end of next week and that will allow the medical examiner to determine if he ingested the poison by food, drink or if he

breathed it. the wife denied having anything to do with the death, saying she loved him. she supports the exhumation, which she says will reveal the truth. his sister wants her brother to rest in peace. >> we have to have justice served. that's what it takes to bring justice for him and bring peace, then that's what needs to be done. >> do you think they will find the truth? >> i'm sure. at least i hope they do. >> arthel: that was craig wall from our fox affiliate, wfld. >> rick: by its very nature, the battle over the debt ceiling comes down to dollars and cents. if the stalemate goes on between the white house and republicans in congress what, does it mean if we don't raise the borrowing limit and what does it mean if we do? joining us is ed, managing partner of chapwood investment. always good to see you. we've debated and maybe you were able to listen to some of the segment a couple minutes ago, the politics of this. we're not going to deal with that now. i want to talk to you about the

implications of raising versus not raising the debt ceiling. first of all what, if we don't, what does it mean for folks at home? >> if we don't, that means that we're literally going to get taxed to death, which we're already feeling 'cause we have to pay for our bills. so that means less money in your pocket. we've got to pay for all the different obligations we have. so that question is if we don't do it. i think we all know we're going to get there, we are going to raise this. >> rick: let me go back to the tax things. a lot of folks who got their first paychecks in 2013 yesterday may have noticed that it was lower than it was for the last paycheck of the year 2012 because the payroll tax expired. and so it hit pretty much everybody across the board who gets a paycheck. now you're saying that we would be taxed to death if the debt ceiling is not raised. what kind of an impact -- give me a dollar amount. how much would we have, how much additional money would we have pulled from our weekly paychecks if we don't raise the debt? >> if we don't raise the debt

ceiling, at that means somehow we'll have to come up with a million and a half more dollars, excuse me, a million -- 1 1/2 trillion dollars more every year to pay for the shortage that we have every single year. so you can only imagine how much more tax we're going to have to have in order to do that. that's why it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that we are going to raise the debt ceiling. >> rick: we also hear people say that if we don't increase the debt ceiling, that the credit rating agencies would downgrade our nation's credit. what does that mean for folks at home? >> that's a great point, 'cause it's going to happen either way because when we look at the credit rating, what they do is say, what is the possibility that this company or in this case, this country can pay on its debt? what we do to pay the interest on our debt is we print money, which means that we are at greater risk. i heard in the last segment that the gentleman had said we have increased it 18 times under reagan. that was a different scenario. we're in a peculiar situation at this point, very tenuous.

so raising it would then make it very difficult for to us pay interest on our debt, which is without question, we're going to see that debt rating most likely come under assault if we raise our debt level. if we don't raise our debt level, it will happen as well. so either way we're in a very, very bad situation. we're gonna raise it most likely, the debt ceiling. we'll probably see a lot of discussion from the rating agencies with our ability to pay on that. and as a result of it, and what it comes back to our wallet, is that is also going to be inflationary because of our credit rating drops, that means we're going to have to go out and actually pay more money on the interest because there is going to be greater risk on our bonds, which means there will be less money in the economy and we'll see a ripple effect. bottom line, hyper inflation maybe, but definitely rising prices, less money in our pockets. >> okay. i think we're trying to -- starting to get it back to where i wanted to get with you, which is talk more about what this is going to mean for the average person at home and when we talk about credit ratings and credit histories, we all have our own credit ratings that we have to

worry about that we try to maintain a good credit history and a good standing with potential lenders out there. so what does it mean, if i pay all of my bills on time and my own personal credit rating is good, what's the difference if my country's credit rate something downgraded? >> if our credit rating is downgraded, that means there is greater risk on our bond. so other countries, let's take china, they might not show up and buy our bonds if they think there is greater risk. so what's going to happen is the rating, or excuse me, the rate that we pay on our debt will go up, which in effect affects you, affects me and everyone who is watching this because we'll have to pay more money in interest, which means there is less money in the economy, which means that the government then will print more money to pay that interest, which means it's going to be inflationary to you and me. so watch our prices go up. that cpi number just isn't a good number in terms of how much the price from year to year and how much we increased in terms of basically what it costs us to live. >> rick: fair enough. >> all of this is bad. >> rick: one more question, it's

your job to give folks financial advice. so give the country some financial advice. if john boehner were to call you, barak obama were to call you, our elected leaders in washington said ed, what should we do about this, what do you tell them? >> we have to have a long-term plan to cut our spending. investors need to get out of all their fixed income tax investors because when interest rates rise, it hurts them. i would tell all of the people who would call me, be very careful about fixed income. let's get our spending under control. >> rick: on the debt ceiling issue, if washington were to call you and say, what should we do? >> if washington wash was to call me and ask me, we would have to cut spending. no way to get out of it. >> rick: raising or inspect raising the debt ceiling? what's your opinion? >> we've got to raise the debt ceiling. we have no choice. >> rick: thank you very much. ed is managing partner at chapwood investment. good to see you. >> arthel: there is yet another new petition on the white house web site. the subject of this one,

president obama's pick for treasury secretary jack lew. as you might know, he has a knack with his loopy john hancock. there it is. now fans of his loops are petition to go see his squiggles on every bill because when tim geithner became head of treasury, he changed his signature to be more legible on currency. these folks don't want jack to follow suit. we just checked and 326 people have signed the loopdy loop petition. 25,000 signatures are needed to reach the petitioner's goal. >> rick: these are folks who want him to keep the signature the way it is. >> arthel: they want that quibbley. >> rick: my signature is completely illegible. >> arthel: mine is good. >> rick: women tend o have neater handwriting. >> arthel: it tends to trail off. oh, well. >> rick: when we come back, we'll switch gears and we'll go back into the discussion about the gun debate in this country. the topic heating up in washington in the wake of the deadly connecticut school

shootings. but are politics getting in the way of finding real solutions to gun violence? we'll talk about that. >> arthel: new talk of conspiracy in the death of john f. kennedy. it's been nearly 50 years since he was assassinated in dallas. we'll tell you why his nephew believes the killer did not act alone ♪ using cloud computing and mobile technology, verizon innovators have developed a projective display for firefighters. allowing them to see through anything. because the world's biggest challenges deserve even bigger solutions. powerful answers. verizon. nothing.

are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. that's a great idea. i'm going to go... we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping excuse me, sir i'm gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just click away with our free mobile app.

>> arthel: welcome back. robert kennedy, junior, says he is convinced a lone gunman was not solely responsible for the assassination of his uncle, president john f. kennedy. the remarks came during an interview in dallas as a year of observances began marking 50 years since the tragedy. rfk junior went on to say his father questioned the warren commission report that concluded lee harvey oswald acted alone and called it, quote, a shoddy piece of craftmanship. rfk junior stopped short of saying who he thinks is

responsible for the assassination. >> rick: another perspective in the gun control debate as we hear people talking really past each other without reaching any kind of consensus, our next guest says that we can't leave the fate of this issue in the hands of the politicians because he answer doesn't lie in opinion polls, she says, but rather in nonpolitical studies. susan estridge is a professor. always good to see you. thank you for being here. >> good to see you. >> rick: your argument is let's take this discussion, this debate out of the realm of politics and talk about it in terms of must be health, right? how do we do that? >> you know, you sit there, rick, and i was listening the other day and they're talking to somebody on one side and he says nothing works and he takes whatever the studies are out there and he says, none of these proposals work. and he's talking from a political point of view.

then they have the next guest and she is on the other side and she has taken the same statistics and say don't they prove that everything works? more regulation, regulation on ammunition, regulation on assault weapons. and as long as we've got conservative versus liberals, democrats versus republicans, the nra versus the gun control lobby, you know, for most of us, it's impossible to figure out what's really going on. they say, you know, numbers don't lie, people do. and if there is any debate that proves that, i think it's the gun debate. >> rick: who should be heading up this discussion? we have joe biden at his panel and they're expected to issue their recommendation to the president, the beginning of this coming week. but in a perfect world or in your perfect world, susan, who would be heading up sort of an examination of the policies and the laws that we have on the books now and what we may possibly be able to do that

could lead to a decrease in gun violence? >> you know what got me into this was there was a public health study that came out last week by a panel of experts, not democrats and republicans, but criminal justice researchers and epidemiologists and public health people and it found that the death rate in this country for people under 50, the mortality rate was the worst in the world among rich countries. i started reading it and i thought, why are these people not participating in the gun debate? why are they not taking comparative information, information from the studies, academics, people who don't have a political ax to grind, who aren't looking to see who is going to win the next election, and giving us their best judgments of what the situation is, what the correlation is between gun ownership and

homicide and death rates, and you just don't see them in the debates. so my concern is, and i think others should share it. joe biden is an old friend of mine. i like him enormously. but i think when he comes out with this recommendations this week to president obama, they will be greeted immediately with support from my friends on the left and with criticism from my friends on the right, and it will quickly turn into a political debate about how much capital is the president willing to spend and what will the nra do in the next election. and most americans will sit there and they'll either go to their partisan side or they'll shake your head in frustration. i don't know who to believe. >> rick: i just wonder if -- i hear what you're saying, but in this world that we all live in now, where everything is tainted by politics and in some way or another, and where everybody is skeptical whenever a poll comes out or a study is released,

everybody on the other side is going to question the validity of it, i just wond for it's even possible to take it out of the politics and have the politics not be part of the discussion. >> well, we can start. i moon, part of the problem obviously, and i don't just mean we at fox news, but the media in general, it's much more entertaining to have the whack fall on the right y'alling at the whack fall on the left. it's important to pay attention to people who don't clamor for attention. we've got it see democrats and the republicans in the congress get together and say, let's have a hearing with no one from the gun control lobby and no one from the nra. let's have a hearing with people who just study this issue. they may be a little more boring, but they might be a heck of a lot more informative. >> rick: if there is one thing that i've noticed since the tragedy in connecticut, it's that everybody, whether they're in support of gun rights or in

support of gun control, no one wants to see that kind of a problem again take place in this country. so let's see. maybe people will listen to what you've been saying. always good to hear your perspective on this. don't forget you can read susan's syndicated column in newspapers every wednesday and friday. >> arthel: you can find them in just about every kitchen, talk being strawberry jam, grape jelly. either one. up next, shop smart magazine with the best brands for your tables aig? we said we were going to turn it around, and we did. woman: we're helping joplin, missouri, come back from a devastating tornado. man: and now we're helping the t recover from hurricane sandy. we're a leading global insurance company, based right here in america. we've repaid every dollar america lent us. everything, plus a profit of more than $22 billion. for the american people. thank you, america. helping people recover and rebuild -- that's what we do. now let's bring on tomorrow.

did you know that as we age our need for protein increases, yet many of us don't meet our daily protein needs? that's why there's boost® high protein nutritional drink. each delicious serving provides fifteen grams of protein to help maintain muscle and help meet expert recommended daily protein needs. plus it provides twenty-six essential vitamins and minerals and is gluten-free. help get the nutrition you need with a complete and balanced nutritional drink. try boost® high protein. also available in powder. this has been medifacts for boost®.

>> rick: some of the ultimate comfort food, strawberry jam, grape jelly. parents can't do without them, especially for school lunch. >> arthel: of course. "consumer reports" shop smart magazine reviewed 15th most popular brands in their january issue. joining us is sue perry, deputy editor of shop smart. >> rick: hi. >> hi. >> arthel: what's the difference between jam and jelly? >> a jam is made from the juice. so that you don't have all the little bits and piece. you don't have the seeds in it. it's really just a gelled fruit juice that has pectin. the jams and the preserves, which are over here, they have little bits of fruit chopped up, seeds are in them. and the preserves are a little chunkier than the jams.

>> rick: i'm a jelly guy. >> arthel: me, too. >> rick: let's start tasting them. this is concorde grape, which i love. >> these are the two. we actually tasted six grape jellies and most of them were pretty darn good. this is the smuckers, which was great, as was the whole foods, 365 everyday brand. and this is organic. >> arthel: this is organic? >> yes. this is our top grape jelly, but they are all pretty comparable. >> rick: it's good. >> this is more expensive, 3.99 for the jar. costs you 16 cents a serving. this one will cost you about 9 cents a serving. >> rick: why is organic stuff more expensive and is it worth it? >> it really depends upon you. it depends also on the fruit or the vegetables. there is that dirty dozen list and certainly some that you definitely want to have be something if you want to have more organic. more people are buying organic. we tend to be buying more organic in our household.

it really is a personal choice at this point. but what's so nice is we have the choices. >> arthel: that is good. what's this? >> these are our strawberry preserves. this is our number two, this is the trader joe's, which our testers like. when we test, we don't test with anything. >> rick: with english muffins? >> no, we take it straight out of the jar with a spoon and that's how they're tested so that there is nothing else. >> rick: are you jamming? [ laughter ] >> what do you think? >> arthel: i like that, too. >> try this one. this is the bonanam. this is our top preserves. >> rick: what is it? >> been on, mama. >> rick: fancy. >> arthel: is it french or something? >> it's got a french label. but you can find these in any supermarket. i see them in mine all the time. this is one i buy. i like this a lot. >> rick: that is good. >> this is twice as much as this one, and the other preserves that -- we also like smockers and those from welchs.

but this is pretty good. >> arthel: you brought good stuff. i like them all. >> i'm so glad. >> rick: where is the peanut butter? >> we'd love to do peanut butter. >> arthel: there is a pick up line that used to involve this. it's a bad pick up line and you say to a guy, that must be jelly 'cause jam don't shake like that. [ laughter ] >> rick: i don't know if it's right. i never heard it before in my life but i like it. i'm going to try it out at home. i'll let you know how it works. sioux, thank you. good night, everybody. >> arthel: harris is up next. the capital one cash rewards card

gives you 1% cash back on all purchases, plus a 50% annual bonus. and everyone but her likes 50% more cash, but i have an idea. do you want a princess dress? yes. cupcakes? yes. do you want an etch-a-sketch? yes! do you want 50% more cash? no. you got talent. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card gives you 1% cash back on every purchase plus a 50% annual bonus on the cash you earn. it's the card for people who like more cash. what's in your wallet? i usually say that.